Lee rose to his feet for another Scotch. “You’re a strange man, Judd. I guess I’ll never understand you. Probably no one ever will.”
“That’s not important either.” Judd smiled. “After dinner do you think we’d have some time to go through the culture labs?”
“If you’d like,” Lee said.
“I would like,” Judd said. “Very much.”
“Meanwhile, before we go down to dinner,” Lee asked, “do you mind if I check your heart and blood pressure? Funny things happen at this altitude.”
“Go ahead,” Judd answered.
Lee picked up a small valise and opened it. “I brought my portable EKG unit.” He glanced at Judd. “Have you been doing any dope today?”
“No. I’m clean,” Judd answered.
“Lie down on the couch,” Sawyer said. He attached the electrodes, carefully read the tape, finally disconnected the wires of the unit and began to check Judd’s pressure at both arms and at the calves of his legs.
“You should check it on my cock,” Judd said as he got up from the couch.
“No chance. The reading would go off the dial.” He grinned at Judd and shook his head admiringly. “You seem fine. Blood pressure 140 over 80, the heart normal, nothing extraordinary anywhere.”
“Feel better, Doctor?” Judd teased.
Lee got to his feet. “I’ll leave you to get dressed now. See you at dinner.”
***
Dinner was simple. Rare filet with mushroom caps, baked potato, julienne green beans and carrots. Afterward, a simple green salad and French Brie. The wine was Bordeaux, Château Mouton Rothschild ’76. Then demitasse.
Dr. Schoenbrun’s smile revealed his satisfaction. “A good chef is the epitome of civilization.”
Judd smiled. “I never really realized you were a philosopher, Doctor.”
“Philosophy begins in the stomach, not the head,” the German offered.
Judd sipped at his demitasse. “Have you been pleased with your progress, Doctor?”
“Very much, Mr. Crane,” Dr. Schoenbrun replied quickly. “By tomorrow the last of the working crew will be gone. Then only the basic technicians will remain. Perhaps no more than seven men are needed for protection purposes. After three months even they will not be required.”
“That’s very good,” Judd said. “I must compliment you, Doctor. I can think of no one who could have accomplished this project so quickly and so well.”
The German smiled proudly. “I look forward to the morning.”
“I do, too,” Judd said. “And, now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to turn in. I’ve had a long day.”
***
It was eleven o’clock when Judd joined Sawyer in the elevator that took them down to the laboratory level. They entered the small reception room; a security guard was seated behind a desk opposite the elevator doors.
Sawyer led them into a small changing room, stripped off his clothes and stepped to the shower, gesturing Judd to do the same. Afterward, they put on fresh aseptic linen, surgical caps and long surgical rubber gloves.
Another small antechamber lay between the dressing room and the laboratory. Sawyer closed the door behind them and pressed a button on the wall. A faint odor of ozone came through the ventilator. After a moment, the laboratory door opened by itself.
Two technicians were awaiting them in the lab. Sawyer nodded to them. “This is Mr. Judd Crane,” he announced. In their unisex uniforms, Judd could not tell whether they were man or woman. “Mr. Bourne and Ms. Payson,” Sawyer introduced. They nodded without shaking hands.
Sawyer led Judd to the bank of Plexiglas drawers covering the walls. Each drawer was numbered, using an index system. There were three tables on steel tracks in front of the walls. On top of each table stood a robot arm that could open any drawer at the command of a computer keyboard. Next to the robotic arm, a three-lensed electronic microscope was ready to project the image on a large computer screen.
Sawyer turned to Judd. “At the moment, we’re powered by six hundred and twenty-four batteries, working on four-hour relays. When the generator power is turned on, the batteries will cut off automatically. Anything else you would like to take a look at?”
Judd nodded. “Cells from the cortex.”
Sawyer gestured to the technicians. Quickly they pressed the keys on the computer. One of the tables began to move along the wall; suddenly it stopped. The robot arm worked its way to the cell bank where it paused only long enough to pull a drawer and place it under the microscope. The technician switched on the large screen.
Simultaneously, all the lights in the lab went off. Judd stared at the screen. It showed a split-screen picture. Index numbers flashed above the top of the screen. One set of numbers was prefixed with the letter “C.”
Sawyer spoke to Judd. “‘C’ is clone, the other is real.”
Judd stared at it for a long moment, then spoke. “I can see no difference between them.”
“There isn’t any,” Sawyer said. “At least, none that we can see. But that is external. We do not know whether they work in exactly the same manner.”
“They have to,” Judd said. “They are exactly the same.”
“Not exactly,” Sawyer said.
Judd looked at him questioningly.
“We know what God hath wrought,” Sawyer said softly. “What man has, is still conjecture.”
23
Judd came down from the Nautilus machine in the gym, his jogging suit soaked with sweat. He took a deep breath as Fast Eddie poured a large glass of orange juice. He drank it in gulps. “God, I needed that,” he said. “I was all dried out.”
“Have another one for you,” Fast Eddie said.
“Hold it for a minute,” Judd said, relaxing into a chair.
“There’s two things wrong with this place,” Fast Eddie said. “First, you can’t go outside. You’d freeze your balls off. Second, there’s absolutely, positively no pussy around.”
Judd laughed.
“Not so funny,” Fast Eddie said seriously. “I never figured you’d go for a monk’s life. I always figured I’d get along on your leftovers.”
“Sorry about that,” Judd smiled. “Guess I’m just getting old.”
“You’re not getting old, Mr. Crane,” Fast Eddie insisted. “You’re getting bored. Your head’s into other things.”
“It’s only been a week,” Judd said.
“Seems much longer.” Fast Eddie shook his head doubtfully.
“Anyway, the drought should be over by tomorrow,” Judd said. “Sofia is coming down with the Maharishi, and he’s bringing a dozen of his girls. He never travels without them.”
“I hope they have warmer clothes than what I saw them wearing in California. They’ll turn blue before we get them into the house,” Fast Eddie said.
“We’ve got fur wraps on the plane for all of them.”
“You think of everything,” Fast Eddie said admiringly. “Who all else is coming down?”
“Sawyer and Merlin from Florida. Dr. Schoenbrun, back from Rio. The reactor is due to cut in tomorrow.”
“Goin’ be a big day.”
“I hope so,” Judd answered.
“I’m beginning to think that you’re goin’ a big sweet on Dr. Ivancich,” Fast Eddie said slyly.
“It’s a working relationship,” Judd said, still denying his own feelings.
“A little fuckin’ relationship don’t hurt neither.” Fast Eddie grinned. “Maybe we better have us a couple of toots just to get into training.”
“You go ahead. I’m trying to dry out a little. The doctor’s planning to check me over again.”
Fast Eddie held out the second glass of orange juice. “Then you better have this now. You’ll need some help.”
“What makes you think that?” Judd asked.
“I know that doctor lady. She’s got the real hots for you. She’ll fuck your brains out.” He laughed as he left the gym.
Judd shook his head in dis
agreement, but Fast Eddie had already closed the door behind him. Judd sipped at the glass of orange juice and finally turned to the shower.
***
His telephone was ringing as he was drying himself. He picked it up. “Your mother’s on the line, sir,” the operator said.
He pressed the button on the direct line. “Barbara,” he said.
Her voice told him she was nervous. “Where are you, Judd?”
“Xanadu,” he said. “What’s wrong?”
“The baby’s been kidnapped,” she said, her voice shaking as she forced the words out as fast as she could. “The nurse was bringing him in from the park and two men stepped out of a car, knocked her down, took the baby and left a note in her hand and sped off.” Her voice broke.
“Do you have the note?” Judd said calmly.
“Yes,” she replied.
“Read it, Barbara,” he ordered as gently as possible.
“We know who the child is.” She read each word with difficulty. “Also who the father and mother are. No harm will come to him if they agree to our terms.”
“That is all that’s in the note?”
“That’s all,” she said.
“Remember you told me that no one knew about the baby?” he asked.
She was sobbing into the telephone. “That’s what I thought, Judd.”
“How long ago did all this happen?” he asked.
“Maybe two hours.”
“What time is it in San Francisco now?” he asked.
“Four o’clock in the afternoon,” she said. “It took almost two hours to reach you.” She began to sob again. “What are we going to do?”
“Have you called John in Security?”
“Not yet.”
“Then get on to him immediately. He’ll bring some men up there and they’ll begin to work on it.” He paused for a moment. “If the nurse has any information about the men or what they looked like, make sure that she tells it to the security men.”
“What about Sofia? I feel I should let her know.”
“I’ll take care of it,” he said. “Meanwhile, stay calm. They said they want to make a deal with me, so the baby will be all right. I promise you.”
“You’ll call me the moment you hear anything?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said. “And if you hear anything, you call.”
She took a deep breath. “I will.”
“Now take a tranquilizer and relax,” he said calmly. “It will all work out. Bye.” He put down the receiver and called Security.
John was on the telephone in a moment. “Have Sofia and the Maharishi left Los Angeles already?”
“Five hours ago,” John said.
“My mother will call you any moment now. She’ll fill you in on the details. You make sure that everything is checked out. You start talking to your connections at the CIA. Try to find out if there’s anything special going on among the Russian agents. Like a kidnapping. Not a spy this time, but a three-year-old boy.”
“Got that, sir,” John said without emotion.
“Now have you found out anything more about Dr. Schoenbrun? I have a gut feeling he’s involved somewhere in this.”
“Nothing shows on our records,” John said. “Just the usual things. Attended the usual nuclear physics symposiums in the Scandinavian countries, Germany, Japan. Nothing special—they brought together scientists from all over the world, even Russia.”
“Do you know whether he ever crossed over to East Berlin?”
“Twice. But only with a busload of tourists.”
“Shit.” He thought for a moment. “For the hell of it, check Mossad. The Israeli Secret Service are cute bastards—they share information with their allies, if there’s something in it for them.”
“Good thought, sir. I’ll see to it. How do you feel about the security where you are? Think you have enough?”
“We’re okay,” he answered. “Just find out all you can about that kid.” He put down the telephone and called Fast Eddie into his room.
“Yes, boss,” Fast Eddie said.
“First, give me that toot, then a cherry Coke,” he said.
“Happy days are here again.” The black man smiled, quickly putting it all together. “I love your shining eyes.”
Judd took his two snorts and sipped at the cherry Coke. He looked over at Fast Eddie. “About how many of the Swedish ATW’s do you have?”
Fast Eddie looked at him. “A dozen. You expectin’ some trouble?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “Never can tell. You keep them near in a place next to us.”
“Okay. Anything else?”
“The sleeve guns, .25 caliber automatic?”
“Two,” Fast Eddie answered. “One for each of us.”
“Good,” Judd said. He took another sip of the cherry Coke. “From now on, the moment any of our guests arrive you stick right next to me.”
“Boss, I’ll be so near you, they’ll think I’m sticking outta your ass.”
***
It was near midnight when the Security telephone rang beside his bed. He reached for it. “Mr. Crane, this is John. We have some information for you.”
“I’m awake, go ahead,” Judd said.
“We don’t know about the kidnappers but we tracked two men and a three-year-old boy boarding a Canadian Pacific plane from SFX to Montreal. Then on arrival there, the group boarded a Cuban airliner bound for Havana. We checked with one of our operatives in Havana and they say that the airport there is locked up tight. The rumor is a Russian biggie is also coming in.”
“Do you think we can intercept them there?”
“Doubt it. Too risky. But we learned something surprising from Mossad. Our Dr. Schoenbrun, supposedly in Rio, is in Caracas. Our information is that he has two tickets besides, one for himself, from Caracas to Rio. Stupid son of a bitch, one of the tickets is for an infant under five.”
“What about grabbing them in Rio?”
“Haven’t got the people,” he said. “Even Mossad, which would like to help me, has only two women at the office.”
“Then we’ll have to handle it ourselves,” Judd said. “There’s no doubt in my mind, they’re going to bring the kid here.”
“I can have an army of men at your place by midnight tomorrow,” John said.
“That will be too late. Don’t worry. We’ll handle it.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Crane. We’ve really fucked this one up.”
“You can’t win them all, John,” Judd said, putting down the phone. He sat for a long time on his bed, thinking. Finally, he called the control tower on the telephone.
“This is Mr. Crane,” he said. “I want every copter out of the crater up on the plateau. The only plane I want in the crater is the VTOL. Understand?”
“Yes, Mr. Crane.”
“Also any plane asking for landing instructions goes on the plateau. Not one of them in the crater. I mean that goes for everyone. Including Dr. Schoenbrun.”
“Understood, sir.”
“Also, I want to know the moment any plane requests assistance on the radio. I want to know who and how many people are on every flight. Got all that?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And beginning at eight in the morning, you check me every hour on the hour whether we pick up any traffic or not. I don’t want any plane sneaking in on us. Got that, too?”
“Yes, Mr. Crane. If nothing else comes up, we’ll start calling you beginning at eight in the morning. Good-bye, sir.”
Judd put down the telephone and switched off his light. Nothing had worked. He didn’t sleep. He tossed and turned until the gray light of morning came in through the windows.
24
“Where’s the chicks?” Fast Eddie asked, looking up at the television screen and watching the passengers coming down the staircase rolled against the 707, which was parked at the side of the runway on the plateau.
“Give them a chance,” Judd said. He, too, was curious. Sofia had already come ou
t of the forward door. She started down the stairway behind the two men assisting the Maharishi. A few moments later three men came out on the landing platform. Finally a few girls appeared. In all there were seven girls descending the staircase.
“They never said anything about the bodyguards,” Fast Eddie said.
“He’s an old man,” Judd said. “Probably he needed their help.”
Fast Eddie was silent, still peering at the screen. “The doctor don’t look too good. She seems very uptight.”
“Probably cold,” Judd said. He watched her carefully. Fast Eddie might have a point. Something about the way she was walking was not right.
He turned to Fast Eddie. “You show them to their rooms,” he said. “When Sofia is settled in, give a shout.”
“Where will you be?” Fast Eddie asked.
“I’m going down to the nuclear generator. Dr. Schoenbrun is down there with Sawyer and Merlin. The generator should be kicking in any minute now. I’d like to see it.”
“You told me to stick next to your ass,” Fast Eddie said.
“It’ll only be for a few minutes,” Judd said. “Nothing’s going to happen right now.”
“Okay, you’re the boss.” He looked at Judd. “Got your sleeve gun?”
Judd straightened out his arm. The small automatic appeared in his hand. “Okay?” he asked.
“Not bad,” Fast Eddie said. “I’ll check right back with you.”
Judd came out of the elevator doors onto the observation deck, which circled the generator three hundred meters below the crater’s surface. Schoenbrun was seated on a high stool, his eyes glued to the instrument panel. Beside him, Merlin and Sawyer stood in rapt fascination.
The German heard the elevator doors open and Judd’s step on the steel platform. Without turning his eyes from the instrument panel, he said, “You made it in the nick of time, Mr. Crane. In thirty seconds the generator kicks onto automatic power.”
Silently, Judd moved next to him. The second counter digital dial was going down. 25, 24, 23. The circuit lights showing the transfer to automatic power were still on red. He looked down through the glass windows at the generator. The white uniformed technicians were all leaving the generator floor and opening a locked door that would bring them up a staircase to the platform. The counter was going down. Fifteen, fourteen, thirteen, twelve.
Descent from Xanadu Page 30
